Tuesday, 22 January 2008

On February 24, Hy Vuthy, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) at the Suntex garment factory, was shot dead while riding his motorbike home after finishing his night shift at the factory, located in Phnom Penh's Dangkao districut. The murder, less than two kilometers from the factory, was reportedly carried out by two men on a motorbike. According to preliminary investigations by local organizations, the 36-year-old union leader had received telephone death threats approximately three months ago.

The Clean Clothes Campaign strongly condemns this killing and calls upon the Cambodian government to bring to justice those behind this and previous killings of unionists and to bring to an end the climate of inpunity that surrounds the violation of human rights in the workplace in Cambodia. The FTUWKC, local human rights organizations, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) , Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others have all called upon the Cambodian government to launch a thorough and independent investigation into the murder of Hy Vuthy.

Hy Vuthy is survived by his wife, Var Sopheak, a four-year-old son, and a five-month-old daughter. Serious concerns remain about the safety of his family, who are still subject to harassment. They were forced to flee their home after it was pelted with rocks and later was surrounded by a group of motorbikes. Your contributions to a support fund for Var Sopheak and her children are urgently needed.

BACKGROUND

Hy Vuthy was killed shortly after successfully negotiating a one-day holiday for Suntex workers for the Khmer New Year. The Suntex factory is owned by the Singapore-based Ocean Sky group, which reports that they produce for export, mainly to the United States for US-based brands and retailers.

Hy Vuthy is the third FTUWKC official to be assassinated in three years. Chea Vichea, the union's president, was shot dead in January 2004 by two men on a motorbike. In May 2004 Ros Sovannarith, the FTUWKC president at the Trinunggal Komara factory, was similarly murdered by two men on a motorbike.

In addition, Hy Vuthy's murder comes after at least five violent attacks in 2006 against FTUWKC officials at Suntex and the neighboring Bright Sky factory, also owned by Ocean Sky.They include an attack on the union's vice-president at Suntex, Chey Rithy, while he was riding home from work in May. Yen Vann Yuth, FTU member at Bright Sky, was also attacked in May.In June Lem Samrith, FTU treasurer at Bright Sky was beaten by 20 men as he left the factory after working the night shift. In July, Lay Chamroeun, FTU vice president at Suntex was attached by six men as he left work. In September, Choy Chin, the union secretary-general at Suntex, was beaten on the head by two men armed with a metal pipe. In October, a workers' strike at Bright Sky factory was violently broken up by police; one worker was shot in the stomach and an FTUWKC activist was punched in the face.

"There is a disturbing pattern of assassinations and physical assaults against FTUWKC representatives in general, and in particular against those at Suntex and Bright Sky factories," said Kek Galabru, president of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) in a statement following the latest murder. "We believe this is an orchestrated campaign of violence, intended to crush this union and frighten its members."

A three-year campaign has been ongoing to seek justice in the 2004 murder of Chea Vichea. In that case, the credibility of the Cambodian justice system has been seriously compromised by the imprisonment of two innocent men for the crime. His family and the union are appealing for the release of the two men and a new investigation and follow-up that meets international standards. For more information on this case and to sign a petition pressing the government to take positive action see:

Khmer Krom Federation executive director Thuch Ngokthuch went to Canada to seek support from Khmer Krom People living there. His intention is find international pressure to squeeze on Vietnam. In 2009 United Nation will invite Vietnam to verify human rights situation. Mr. Thuch Ngokthuch said that he would participate to listen the meeting too.

Hollywood Film Star Blocked Entering Genocide Museum

Hollywood film star Mia Farrow with executive director of Center for Society Development Seng Theary and other followers were blocked to enter Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. They have planned to light Olympic Symbolic handle stick against cruel violation in Darfur. The government spokesman said that the government could not permit Cambodia to be a place disclosing objection to any countries.

ECCC Will Get Some 10,000 Complaints

There will be around 10,000 victims in Democratic Kumpuchea filing complaints to Extraordinary Chamber in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), Chang Yu, head of Cambodian Documentary Center said. His center has received 1,000 complaints and had sent some of them to the ECCC.

Family Robbed by a Gang of Thieves

A gang of thieves of three to four members with AK riffles smashed house door with hammer and robbed a family. It occurred around 00:30am in Sre Ampil village, Angsnoul district, Kandal province. The house owner Mrs. Eam Sangvat, 62, said that those robbers seemingly knew her family because they called names of some family members clearly. The victim lost 8 million Riel and 500US$ in cash and amount of jewelry.

NA Enacts Agreement on Japanese Investment Protection

National Assembly enacted an agreement between Cambodia and Japan on free globalization push and Japanese investment protection. This agreement was signed by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen and former Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on June 14, 07 in Tokyo. Minister of Economics and Finance Ministry Kiet Chhun said that after this enactment more Japanese investors will come to Cambodia.

ECCC Wants to Eliminate Suspicion of People

Cambodia Human Rights Watch claimed that journalists were not allowed to enter meeting room between ECCC official group and Pai Lin authorities, civil servants, authorities and armed forces. Spokesman of ECCC said that journalists were permitted to get in and ask Pai Lin town governor 20 minutes earlier. During the meeting, they were not allowed because ECCC officials have some affair to eliminate suspicion with them.

A Youth Robbed While Driving Motorbike

A group of thieves robbed a youth and took his new 2005 serried Honda motorbike while he was driving. The robbery occurred at about 7:30pm along a path in Rorluos village, Khan Dangkou, Phnom Penh. The thieve group had five to six members driving four motorcycles and they had a handgun. The victim was also beaten in head with handgun to bloody.

KR Tribunal Officials Go to Educate People in Pai Lin Town

Khmer Rouge Tribunal officials leaded by two co-investigating judges went to educate people about the tribunal affair in Pai Lin town which is the biggest stronghold of Khmer Rouge. The group contained ECCC spokesman Reach Sambath, co-investigating judges Yu Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde and other ECCC officers. Reach Sambath said that the tribunal had done education mission many times and mostly cooperated with NGOs but this time it does by its own.

Five Kidnapers Caught, Hostage fled

Five kidnapers-two females were surrounded and caught at noon in Steong Market , Punhea Kreng district, Kampong Cham province after this group detained a victim Nheng Ly, 46, and demanded for US3,500$. Those group members are Cambodian Islamic. On January 11 after they detained the victim, they called to the man’s relatives in law to take money for them.

PRESIDENT Omar Hassan al-Bashir has rebuffed criticism of Musa Hilal, accused by Washington of co-ordinating Darfur's marauding militias, following Hilal's promotion to a key government post in Khartoum, Reuters reported.

The Sudanese leader on the first day of a visit to European Union (EU) candidate country Turkey, also accused Europe of backing the violence in Darfur.

The United States (U.S.), the EU and rights groups are unhappy with Bashir's visit, although Turkey insists it will press home the West's message that Sudan needs to work towards resolving the Darfur crisis.

American actress, Mia Farrow, was on Sunday forced to cancel a ceremony in Phnom Penh highlighting human rights abuses in Sudan after authorities barred her access to the city's genocide museum.

Farrow and her group, Dream for Darfur, planned to hold an Olympic torch ceremony at Tuol Sleng prison -- a brutal interrogation centre under the Khmer Rouge -- as part of a campaign to highlight China's links to Sudan.

But the Cambodian government, which has close ties to Beijing, banned the ceremony, calling it "insulting" to the two million victims of the Khmer Rouge.

Cambodian police, some armed with truncheons and tear gas, blocked all road access to the museum.

The star, joined by seven other activists, instead gave white lotus flowers to a policeman, and asked him to lay them in front of the museum.

Farrow's campaign aims to push China to pressure Sudan into ending the violence in Darfur, where the United Nations estimates at least 200,000 people have died in five years of war, famine and disease.

Her group has organised an Olympic-style torch relay through countries that have suffered genocide and Cambodia was the sixth stop after visits to the Sudanese border in Chad, as well as Rwanda, Armenia, Germany and Bosnia.

Defending Hilal's appointment, Bashir at a joint news conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul said:"Mr. Hilal himself is a Sudanese citizen. He has a very influential personality in Darfur. He has contributed greatly to stability and security in the region.

"In Sudan, we do not think the claims against Hilal are true. We absolutely do not believe them. The people who really commit murders in Darfur are receiving help from Europe and others."

Bashir's government has been criticised after a five-year conflict in Sudan's west sparked what UN officials called the world's worst humantiarian crisis with an estimate 200,000 dead and 2.5 million driven from their homes.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing Sudan's central government of neglect. Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab tribes to quell the revolt.

Sudan's Minister of Federal Affairs Abdel Basit Sabderat confirmed at the weekend that Hilal had been picked as his new adviser. The presidency had previously denied the appointment.

Washington says Hilal is the co-ordinator of the Janjaweed militias accused of war crimes in Darfur. He denies atrocities and says he mobilised his tribesmen to defend their lands after a government call to "popular defence".

Turkey's Gul, who looked uncomfortable during the news conference, said he had urged Bashir during their talks to seek a peaceful end to the conflict in Darfur.

Bashir's visit to Ankara and to Istanbul, Turkey's business hub, is expected to boost economic ties, though human rights groups have criticised Turkey for hosting Sudan's leader.

Despite the conflict in western Darfur, foreign investment has rocketed in Sudan's capital Khartoum. Turkish companies have won large government construction contracts to build bridges and Sudan's first mall.

(New York, January 22, 2008) � Four years after the murder of Cambodia's most prominent labor union leader, Chea Vichea, six leading international human rights organizations and the world's largest trade union federation called on the Cambodian authorities to exonerate and free the two men unfairly convicted for the crime. The continued imprisonment of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeum without any credible evidence against them is of grave concern, said a joint statement by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Asian Human Rights Commission, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture), and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

January 28 will mark the fourth anniversary of the initial arrests of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun for the murder of Chea Vichea, the president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), who was killed on January 22, 2004. Each is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in a grossly unfair trial in August 2005."From the beginning, this case has been tainted by serious procedural flaws and violations of basic fair trial rights," said Sara Colm, senior researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch. "A first step for justice in Chea Vichea's murder would be the prompt release of those unfairly convicted."

Numerous irregularities marred the police and court investigations in this case. The police allegedly tortured Born Samnang to get a confession. A judge who initially dropped the charges against the two men for lack of evidence was swiftly removed from his position, and the charges were reinstated. The subsequent trial of the two men was conducted in a manner that flagrantly violated Cambodian law and international fair trial standards. In April 2007, the country's Appeal Court upheld their convictions despite its own prosecutor acknowledging that there was insufficient evidence.

Chea Vichea's family members say they believe Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are not responsible for the crime, as has the prime witness to the murder, Var Sothy, who fled the country in fear for her life.

"There is compelling evidence that these two men were targeted by the authorities as scapegoats for the murder, and nobody is fooled by this charade," said Souhayr Belhassen, president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

The Cambodian authorities' handling of the case has attracted extensive criticism, domestically and internationally, from human rights activists, lawyers, union advocates, and others. The International Labor Organization and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia have repeatedly expressed grave concerns about the convictions of the two men and called for a fresh investigation into Chea Vichea's murder.

"Any objective examination of all the available evidence shows that these two men never should have been arrested, much less imprisoned for four years already," said Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission.

In addition to calling for the exoneration and immediate release of the two men, the seven organizations urged the Cambodian government to launch a full and impartial investigation into the murder, as well as an independent and public inquiry into the handling of the prosecution of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. This would include investigation into allegations of police brutality, intimidation of witnesses, and political interference in the judicial process.

In addition to the murder of Chea Vichea, there has been a clear and ongoing pattern of violence against trade union activists in Cambodia. This includes the murders of FTUWKC official Hy Vuthy in February 2007 and FTUWKC Steering Committee member Ros Sovannarith in 2004, and a series of physical assaults against other FTUWKC unionists.

"The murder of Chea Vichea and other trade union leaders has had a chilling effect on labor rights and workers' freedoms in Cambodia, even more so given the lack of proper, credible investigations to find their killers," said Guy Ryder of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, whose 311 affiliates represent 168 million workers worldwide. "It sends a deplorable message to Cambodian workers that trade union membership or activity will put their safety at risk."

The seven organizations urged the Cambodian government to take prompt action to address the key issues highlighted by this case: Cambodia's endemic impunity and lack of rule of law, government interference in the judiciary, intimidation and violence faced by trade union members and leaders, and widespread torture by the police.

"This case highlights the use of torture by Cambodian police, mainly to force confessions out of criminal suspects, and the courts' readiness to turn a blind eye," said Eric Sottas, director of the Geneva-based World Organization against Torture. "The Cambodian government and courts should take meaningful action to prevent and punish the use of torture."

"Four years after the murder of Chea Vichea, the true perpetrators remain at large while two innocent men are imprisoned," said Brittis Edman, Southeast Asia researcher for London-based Amnesty International. "This deep injustice shows the sorry state of rule of law in Cambodia and the urgent need for genuine legal and judicial reform."

"Cambodia's donors, who are pumping millions of dollars in aid into the country, and particularly those supporting the government's so-called reform programs, need to be demanding real progress � not mere lip service � toward improving the judiciary's independence and professionalism," said Anselmo Lee, executive director of FORUM-ASIA.

SEOUL: South Korea's stock exchange operator said on Tuesday it had agreed with the Cambodian government to set up and run a joint stock exchange in the Southeast Asian country in 2009.

The Korea Exchange (KRX), Asia's fourth-largest bourse operator, has in recent years supported stock market development in Southeast Asia as part of efforts to raise its profile and draw foreign firms to Seoul for listings.

KRX said in a statement the exchange and the Cambodian Finance Ministry were working on a detailed investment plan to set up the Cambodia Stock Exchange and a support system next year.

The Cambodian government will own a minimum 51 per cent in the new bourse while KRX will hold as much as 49 per cent.

KRX will also help the country set up a regulatory body to oversee stock trading, it said. South Korea said last year it would spend $1.8 million in training and help set up the modern stock market in Cambodia, which is recovering from a 30-year civil war ended in 1998.

Phnom Penh - The rocketing price of more conventional meats due to bird flu quarantines and world oil prices has doubled the market price of rat meat in Cambodia, local media reported Tuesday. Rat meat has become so valuable that rice farmers "in their hundreds" had set up sideline businesses catching rats and making them table-ready, reported the Khmer-language daily Kampuchea Thmey.

Whereas a kilo of the best quality rat meat went for around 50 cents two years ago, it now fetches up to 1.50 dollars, the paper reported.

Restrictions on imports of pigs and poultry in an attempt to limit the spread of avian influenza, or bird flu, combined with high petrol prices have pushed up the prices of more usual staples.Cambodians in certain provinces have long caught rats as a protein source when rodent numbers reach a peak during the rice harvest and enjoy the meat roasted or dried as a snack while drinking.

Chea Vichea, who headed the country's largest labour union and was a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, was gunned down at a Phnom Penh newsstand in January 2004.

"He was the one who brought (the unions) all together. After him, there were divisions ... fighting against one other," said Kek Galabru, director of the Cambodian rights group Licadho.

Galabru was among the group of unionists, politicians and rights workers who led some 200 people to a wreath-laying ceremony at the scene of Chea Vichea's death.

The quick trial and conviction of the labour leader's alleged killers, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, remains a controversial issue among rights groups, who say their arrests were a cover-up for a political assassination.

"From the beginning, this case has been tainted by serious procedural flaws and violations of basic fair trial rights," said Sara Colm, a senior researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"A first step for justice in Chea VicheaÂs murder would be the prompt release of those unfairly convicted," she added in a statement signed by five other international rights groups.

Two other labour leaders were also later murdered in an escalation of attacks against workers' rights advocates.

Their deaths cast a pall over Cambodia's key garment industry, with several major clothing labels warning the government that swift justice was needed for their continued presence in the country.The sector has achieved double-digit growth year-on-year and is now Cambodia's largest industrial employer, giving work to more than 330,000 people.

But the industry, which accounts for 80 percent of Cambodia's export earnings, is becoming increasingly vulnerable to foreign competition, and manufacturers fear ongoing labour upheavals could drive future investors away.

You die for the poors and You die for fighting to promote Democracy in Cambodia. We Never forgotten you and million of Khmer people will learn from you. We will find justice for you and we hope that the criminal must deserve to be punish.

May you rest in peace and may buddha be with you all the way.

Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy (C) stands in front of a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, on the fourth anniversary of his death in Phnom Penh January 22, 2008. Vichea was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Incense sticks burn during a rememberance ceremony marking the death of labour leader Chea Vichea in Phnom Penh, January 22. Hundreds gathered Tuesday in Cambodia's capital to mark the death of the labour leader, whose slaying four years ago badly fractured the country's nascent workers' movement.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy (C) speaks to the media on the fourth anniversary of the death of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh January 22, 2008. Vichea was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodians burn incense and place lotus flowers in front of a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, to mark the fourth anniversary of his death in Phnom Penh January 22, 2008. Vichea was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodian people and rights groups remember the death of labour leader Chea Vichea on a street in Phnom Penh, January 22. Hundreds gathered Tuesday in Cambodia's capital to mark the death of labour leader Chea Vichea, whose slaying four years ago badly fractured the country's nascent workers' movement.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

A man holds a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, to mark the fourth anniversary of his death in Phnom Penh January 22, 2008. Vichea was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

A Khmer man broke into a house and came face to face with the house’s owner. He ran away and jumped into a nearby pool of elephant excrement.During the wee hour of 20 January 2008, Sergeant Major Winai Petchprapai, who is in charge of the Police Box in Bangsaray, was notified that a man had broken into the home of Mrs. Rumpeung Doungnoi (35), located in Moo 7, Sattahip, Chonburi. The thief was surprised to find that Mrs. Rumpeung was home and he hastily ran out of the house and jumped into the elephant excrement pool at Nongnooch Village.

A police team, along with Sawang Rojanatham (Sattahip Rescue Foundation) and about thirty local residents searched for the hapless, would-be burglar. (See attached video.) The large pool was full of elephant excrement, which, as one might expect, caused a very unpleasant stench. The pool was also filled with Water Hyacinth, making it quite difficult to locate the miscreant.

Officials finally located the man, who was breathing through the stem of a Water Hyacinth, after searching for two hours. The thief, Mr. Who (22), a Khmer, confessed that he had snuck into Thailand, illegally, and was unsuccessful in finding a job. He decided to break into Mrs. Rumpeung’s house. He smashed in the window, but was surprised to find that she was home. Mr. Who panicked and ran out to nearby bushes and jumped into the pool. Police brought the wet, and presumably, smelly Mr. Who to the police station. He will be deported back to Cambodia.

Cambodia: Release Scapegoats for Labor Leader's MurderFour Years On, Still No Justice in Killing of Chea Vichea

(January 22, 2008) -- Four years after the murder of Cambodia's most prominent labor union leader, Chea Vichea, six leading international human rights organizations and the world's largest trade union federation called on the Cambodian authorities to exonerate and free the two men unfairly convicted for the crime.

The continued imprisonment of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeum without any credible evidence against them is of grave concern, said a joint statement by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Asian Human Rights Commission, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture), and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

January 28 will mark the fourth anniversary of the initial arrests of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun for the murder of Chea Vichea, the president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), who was killed on January 22, 2004. Each is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in a grossly unfair trial in August 2005.

"From the beginning, this case has been tainted by serious procedural flaws and violations of basic fair trial rights," said Sara Colm, senior researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch. "A first step for justice in Chea Vichea's murder would be the prompt release of those unfairly convicted."

Numerous irregularities marred the police and court investigations in this case. The police allegedly tortured Born Samnang to get a confession. A judge who initially dropped the charges against the two men for lack of evidence was swiftly removed from his position, and the charges were reinstated. The subsequent trial of the two men was conducted in a manner that flagrantly violated Cambodian law and international fair trial standards. In April 2007, the country's Appeal Court upheld their convictions despite its own prosecutor acknowledging that there was insufficient evidence.

Chea Vichea's family members say they believe Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun are not responsible for the crime, as has the prime witness to the murder, Var Sothy, who fled the country in fear for her life.

"There is compelling evidence that these two men were targeted by the authorities as scapegoats for the murder, and nobody is fooled by this charade," said Souhayr Belhassen, president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

The Cambodian authorities' handling of the case has attracted extensive criticism, domestically and internationally, from human rights activists, lawyers, union advocates, and others. The International Labor Organization and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia have repeatedly expressed grave concerns about the convictions of the two men and called for a fresh investigation into Chea Vichea's murder.

"Any objective examination of all the available evidence shows that these two men never should have been arrested, much less imprisoned for four years already," said Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission.

In addition to calling for the exoneration and immediate release of the two men, the seven organizations urged the Cambodian government to launch a full and impartial investigation into the murder, as well as an independent and public inquiry into the handling of the prosecution of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. This would include investigation into allegations of police brutality, intimidation of witnesses, and political interference in the judicial process.

In addition to the murder of Chea Vichea, there has been a clear and ongoing pattern of violence against trade union activists in Cambodia. This includes the murders of FTUWKC official Hy Vuthy in February 2007 and FTUWKC Steering Committee member Ros Sovannarith in 2004, and a series of physical assaults against other FTUWKC unionists.

"The murder of Chea Vichea and other trade union leaders has had a chilling effect on labor rights and workers' freedoms in Cambodia, even more so given the lack of proper, credible investigations to find their killers," said Guy Ryder of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, whose 311 affiliates represent 168 million workers worldwide. "It sends a deplorable message to Cambodian workers that trade union membership or activity will put their safety at risk."

The seven organizations urged the Cambodian government to take prompt action to address the key issues highlighted by this case: Cambodia's endemic impunity and lack of rule of law, government interference in the judiciary, intimidation and violence faced by trade union members and leaders, and widespread torture by the police.

"This case highlights the use of torture by Cambodian police, mainly to force confessions out of criminal suspects, and the courts' readiness to turn a blind eye," said Eric Sottas, director of the Geneva-based World Organization against Torture. "The Cambodian government and courts should take meaningful action to prevent and punish the use of torture."

"Four years after the murder of Chea Vichea, the true perpetrators remain at large while two innocent men are imprisoned," said Brittis Edman, Southeast Asia researcher for London-based Amnesty International. "This deep injustice shows the sorry state of rule of law in Cambodia and the urgent need for genuine legal and judicial reform."

"Cambodia's donors, who are pumping millions of dollars in aid into the country, and particularly those supporting the government's so-called reform programs, need to be demanding real progress -- not mere lip service -- toward improving the judiciary's independence and professionalism," said Anselmo Lee, executive director of FORUM-ASIA.

For additional background on the Chea Vichea Case and the Trial of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, please see:

SNAY VILLAGE, Cambodia, Jan. 21 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Japanese archaeologists said Monday they have found an ancient water site in northwest Cambodia which dates back to the first century.

The archaeologists said they discovered sacred mounds of water or altars at the ruins in Snay village in Banteay Meanchey province under a two-year project which began in January last year.

"Before, it was said that Khmer civilization started from seventh to ninth century AD, but based on our research here, Khmer civilization went back to the first century AD," said Yoshinori Yasuda, a professor of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies.

"Khmer civilization established a very well-organized and harmonized water system. They constructed a perfect water circulation system until the Angkor Wat period," Yasuda said, adding that the Angkor Wat period also had a well-organized water system.

He said that through his findings, the discovered water site is the world's oldest, or some 600 years older than the Tikal ruins in Guatemala.

Yasuda said the project is supported by the Tokyo Foundation, a unit of the semipublic Nippon Foundation, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, in close cooperation with Cambodia.

With 10 Japanese archaeologists and experts and 50 Cambodian staff, the team excavated five sites last year, discovering 36 tombs, seven pits and 156 pottery pieces.

This year, another 12 tombs were discovered, according to Yoshito Miyatsuka, archaeologist and president of the Miyatsuka Institute of Archaeology in Sapporo, northern Japan. He conducted field site research.

The Japanese archaeologists appealed to the world to pay more attention to water.

"We are now in the 21st century facing a water crisis by which tropical rainforests are being destroyed and Tonle Sap Lake, the biggest lake in Cambodia, was polluted," Yasuda said.

"In order to keep water circulation and biodiversity, the lifestyle of eating rice and fish, preservation of nature is best," he said.

The ancient water site is located about 370 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, or about 70 km west of Siem Reap Province, hometown of Angkor Wat.

While stressing the significance of water, the archaeologists also sought the protection of Cambodian antiques, expressing concern over repeated looting of ancient antiques from ruin sites.

"These excavations are part of responses to the looting in Cambodia today. During the period of 2000 to 2003, an estimated 1,000 or so pottery pieces or precious stones or antiques were looted from around this site," said Yozo Akayama, a field archaeologist.

Union officials and workers plan to lay a wreath Tuesday to commemorate the controversial murder of leader Chea Vichea in 2004.

Chea Vichea, the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia, was shot dead Jan. 22, 2004.

Two men, Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun, were convicted following the shooting, but they are widely believed to be innocent.

Chea Mony, brother to the slain leader and now head of the Free Trade Union, said Monday that hundreds of union workers and activists will march to the site where Chea Vichea was gunned down near Wat Langka, to lay a wreath of flowers.

“Every year after the murder of Chea Vichea, we always lay a wreath,” Chea Mony said. “When authorities give us permission to lay it down, we do it, and when they don’t allow us, we still lay it down.”

Phnom Penh Municipal Deputy Director Suon Rindy said the city had given the workers permission to lay the wreath, “according to an agenda that we are now working on together.”

Cambodia’s moral climate has suffered under war and lawlessness, but the re-teaching of care and compassion can bring it back, a revered monk said Monday.

Venerable monk Hok Sovann, a Cambodian Buddhist leader in Montreal, Canada said the five moral disciplines—not to kill, steal, engage in irresponsible sex or adultery, lie or consume alcohol or drugs—have eroded in Cambodia.

Murder, prostitution, the sale of babies and children, deceit and substance abuse are all a part of the Cambodian social fabric, thanks to a lack of morality, he said.

These come from a weakening of the mental state and of social consciousness, in a country ravaged by war and now plagued by lawlessness and impunity.

Hundreds of Cambodian villagers welcomed the arrival of a new primary school recently, a gift from an American teenager who was ill for a year and decided to use her time away from school to help raise 52-thousand US Dollars to open a school in Cambodia.

VOA's Ker Yann has the report.Rachel Rosenfeld, 17, made her first visit to the opening of the R.S. Rosenfeld School, which brings computers and Internet access to 300 primary school students in a small village of Siem Reap province.

Rachel Rosenfeld: "I feel amazing now that its all done, seeing all the kids just makes me feel so good, and I feel like I really did something to help people and it means a lot to me".

Rosenfeld learned about the village of Srah Khvav after reading a newspaper article last year about poor Cambodian children who often have no access to education.

She was horrified to learn that some young Cambodian girls end up being sold into prostitution by their parents. Students lined up the road as Rosenfeld arrived at the school.

Heng Thy, student: "I feel very excited because I have a new school to study and make me eager to continue my education."

The 52-thousand dollars she raised was supplemented by funds from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

“Phnom Penh: More than 100 representatives of civil society organizations led by the executive director of the Center for Social Development and by the American movie star Ms. Mia Farrow , wanted to gather on 20 January 2008 at the entrance to Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial in order to hold a ceremony to commemorate victims in Darfur and survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide, but the attempt to lay flowers in commemoration was prevented by the authorityies, stating that this was not permitted by the government.

“Ms. Seng Theary, the president of the Center for Social Development, who led an American Hollywood actress, two Sudanese nationals, and civil society officials from human rights organizations, was barred while they were trying to go to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial to present lotus flowers. Police had deployed forces and blocked the roads around Tuol Sleng Museum from early in the morning of 20 January 2008, preventing the march of civil society members. It was known that this might happen, because the Royal Government had immediately rejected this plan after permissions had been issued by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, and by the manager of the Genocide Memorial.

“Hollywood actress Mia Farrow said, ‘We do not understand why the authorities do not allow us to commemorate the dead by laying flowers at Tuol Sleng, to remember the victims and to promot an end to genocide worldwide.’ She continued that they had been to everal other countries where genocide had happened, and they advocate that genocide should not be allowed to happen any longer.

“Ms. Seng Theary went on to say that the genocide memorial is not a place of anybody specific only, and it must not be linked to politics. She continued, ‘Tuol Sleng is where my father, my mother, and my siblings’ death is commemorated.’ She added, ‘I call on our Khmer Royal Government on behalf of survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime to stop using politics to interfere in humanitarian actions.’

“However, police officials said, ‘Tuol Sleng is closed and visitors are not allowed to enter.’

Therefore Boeng Keng Kang Bei Subdistrict authorities ordered the civil society group to leave the Tuol Sleng area, because they were not allowed to enter to lay flowers on that day. Eight representatives of civil society organizations with lotuses in their hands, who planned to take the flowers and lay them in front of Tuol Sleng Memorial, were also not alloweded to proceed, even only two of them, who finally asked the police to allow them in, were not permitted to proceed.

“According to the letter of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, dated 24 December 2007 which also Koh Santepheap has seen, sent to Ms. Seng Theary as president of the Center for Social Development, the ministry agreed that the site of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial may be used by the Center for Social Development, to hold a ceremony to honor the Darfur citizens and the survivors of the genocide, based on a request for the plan for 20 January 2008.

Nonetheless, the permission was canceled, but the organizers still claim that they did not get any information about this change.

“Ms. Alison Johnson, a representative of the ‘Dream for Darfur,’ said at a press conference that they had laid flowers in several countries before, where genocide had happened. She continued that on the morning of 20 January, they wanted to lay flowers at Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial also, but the authorities barred them.

“Ms. Seng Theary continued, ‘The Tuol Sleng Memorial belongs to the citizens and the world, to those who want to share in the sufferings with the victims who died, and to share hope with the survivors.’ She went on to say, ‘The Tuol Sleng Memorial is not a market to sell tickets for profit.’

“The Tuol Sleng memorial is known since 1979 as the four buildings which are a former high school; they were used by the regime of Democratic Kampuchea as administrative offices, as rooms for cross-examinations, and as rooms for torture. In 1975 there had been 154 prisoners, in 1976 2,250, in 1977 2,330, and in 1978 there had been 5,765 prisoners.

“The Center for Social Development said that in the planned ceremony, after laying flowers, there would also be the lighting of an Olympic-style torch, where the flame would symbolize the commemoration of those who died and of those who suffer. The flame is to shine on the bravery of the survivors. The flame represents our hope that there will be an end to genocide everywhere.

“Ms. Seng Theary added, ‘What does this activity of the police mean, that we – only eight of us – six women and two men, are humanitarian representatives who quietly and peacefully hold white lotuses, wanting to commemorate the victims and lay flowers at Tuol Sleng?’ She continued that they are Khmer people, but many officials with weapons prevented them.

Previously, there had been a straight warning issued by some officials that the ceremony would not be allowed, because it would serve the politics of one country against another country, by using Cambodia as the location. The authorities will not allow the use of Cambodia to go against another country.“It is noticed that during the actions of pushing against each other [between the police and those who wanted to go to the Toul Sleng Menorial], no one was injured, and the civil society group withdrew at the order of hundreds of armed Chamkarmon district police officials. However, on 19 January 2008, this group of activists had once already visited the Tuol Sleng Memorial, but they were not barred, until the afternoon of the same day; police also deployed forces guarding the Chinese Embassy, as it had been said that the activists planned to march to the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh.”

Today marks the four-year anniversary of the murder of Free Trade Union leader Chea Vichea, who was shot three times — twice in the body, once in the head — on the morning of January 22, 2004, as he read the Cambodia Daily.

At the time, human rights groups called the assassination politically motivated. The U.S. embassy called it “cowardly. Tens of thousands of mourners marched through the streets of Phnom Penh in a somber farewell parade.

The two men convicted for the murder, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, are widely believed to be innocent, framed by the Cambodian authorities. The trial of the two men was the subject of a 2007 video documentary by American filmmaker Bradley Cox titled The Plastic Killers. The murder and trial is also the subject of a forthcoming film by Cox and former Cambodia Daily reporter Rich Garella, titled Who Killed Chea Vichea?

Cambodian police blocked Mia Farrow from holding a genocide memorial ceremony Sunday at a Khmer Rouge prison, at one point forcefully pushing her group away from a barricade. Farrow -- on a tour to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and to pressure China, one of Sudan's major trading partners -- was prevented from entering the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian government, which has strong economic and political ties with China, accused the actress of having "a political agenda against China," rather than a humanitarian motive.

Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodia has inaugurated its largest cement plant with a designed capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per year in the coastal province of Kampot.

The cement plant is a joint venture between Cambodian building firm Khaou Chuly Group and Thailand’s Siam Cement with a total investment capital of 127 million USD.

The plant in fact was put into operation in the middle of 2006 since the completion of its first stage, producing 960,000 tonnes of cement per year.

The plant is scheduled to operate in full capacity by 2012. The joint venture is expected to reduce Cambodia’s cement imports which amounted to 1.5 million tonnes last year to meet the country’s soaring deman

After a turbulent history, silk weaving has returned to the ethnic Khmer community in south-western An Giang Province. Thien Ly finds out how the industry is changing people’s lives.

Silk products made by ethnic Khmer in southwestern An Giang Province are prized not only for their beauty but for their distinctive shapes and colours that reflect the centuries-old culture the region shares with nearby Cambodia.

Many of the traditional scarves, skirts and decorative cloths are made by women living in the province’s Van Giao Commune, where 80 per cent of the population is Khmer.

With an average per capita income of VND15,000-25,000 a day made from weaving, hundreds of women and their families in the last seven years have escaped poverty by working in local co-operatives or as independent producers.

The industry has been such a success that a new village is expected to be created soon to showcase the area’s products and promote its exports.

Silk weaving is not new to the area. Several hundred years ago, historians say, the Khmer wove cloth for local use, with activity reaching a peak during the early 20th century. Then the sound of hundreds of looms could be heard all day long.

In 1978, however, the industry came to a standstill during the country’s conflict with the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot in Cambodia. At that time, local residents had to move to Soc Trang Province and neighbouring areas to scrape out a living.

It was not until 1992 that An Giang’s weaving community began to slowly revive, and in 1999 it started to flourish when the Australia-based Care organisation and the province’s Women’s Union set up a microcredit programme for 36 Khmer women in Sray Skoth hamlet in Tinh Bien District.

Each woman was given a loan of VND1 million (US$62) to VND1.5 million to buy or make a loom of their own, and an Australian textile expert taught the women dyeing techniques that made the silk fibres glossier, more durable, and resistant to fading.

Deep history

Sray Skoth hamlet, where weaving skills have been handed down from generation to generation, was chosen as the site of the Australian project because of its illustrious silk-making history.

Forty traditional designs, including patterns that depict the legend of the Buddha, Khmer folk tales, and images of flowers, fruits and animals, are still being used on the silk goods made today.

Particularly stunning, and popular with foreign buyers, is the Khmer sarong (known in Vietnamese as xa-rong), which is often used as collateral for a loan because of its value.

Woven in 30 different patterns, including squares, circles or polygons, the sarong is usually valued at between VND600,000 ($37.5) to VND1 million ($62) each.

Also popular are decorative cloths used in pagodas or houses and patterned with stories of the Buddha or religious or cultural events. Along with sarongs worn by women, these cloths are often displayed during festivals and religious ceremonies.

Though today the dyes are artificial, the types of weaving and the designs have remained the same.

Three kinds of weaving techniques are used: plain for scarves, jacquard for creating small flowers on products, and ikat for the most complicated designs.

Khmer cloth is special in that the designs are made on the weft yarns on the loom before the actual weaving begins, says Neang One, one of the oldest artisans in Sray Skoth.

The design is created by tying together certain yarns with a string, which helps create an outline for each area of colour. The time needed for dyeing the fibres sometimes lasts two or three months.

Artisans also use another special technique, weaving three layers of three-coloured silk fibres that make the cloths gleam with a rainbow of colours when looked at from different sides.

Weaving co-operative

All of the traditional silk products have won favour, both locally and abroad, and have helped many families escape poverty.

Acknowledging the results that the Australian project brought to the community, Tinh Bien District authorities in late 2001 decided to set up a silk weaving co-operative in Van Giao Commune, where Sray Skoth is located.

The co-operative’s 84 members were given 60 looms and the best artisans were paid VND1 million a month to teach weaving skills to young women.

Le Kim Kha, one of the co-operative’s founders and its current chair, said the co-operative now has 136 looms and 136 members, in addition to more than 100 assistants.

Each worker has an average income of VND600,000 to VND700,000 ($40-45) a month.

"The co-operative is a household-based model," Kha said. "Looms are placed in the homes of the women so they can easily take care of their families. They can also teach their children the craft."

Each new weaver who is trained receives a loom worth VND1.5 million and a loan of VND3 million, with monthly interest of 0.65 per cent, to buy weaving materials.

"We also help them sell their products," Kha said. "Even though it’s a secondary job for many, the women now have a higher income, which has helped about 20 per cent of the co-operative’s members build new houses and allowed them to pay for health care and school tuition."

Weaver Neang Sa Mi, 53, said she learned silk weaving from her mother when she was 18 years old.

"I can make three xa rong a month, which amounts to VND1.5 million. With that money and my husband’s income from farming, we can raise our three children," she said.

Neang Duong, also 53, who has two sons and seven daughters, makes her living completely from silk weaving.

"Each month my daughter makes three items worth over VND1 million. With our income we were able to buy back our land that we had to sell years ago," she said.

Future plans

With demand for Khmer silk increasing, the An Giang People’s Committee has decided to transform Sray Skoth into a traditional craft village, a designation formally recognised by the state Government.

Co-operative chair Kha said a closed production chain similar to what existed hundreds of years ago in the region would be created – from growing mulberry trees, raising silkworms, spinning fibres and dyeing to loom weaving.

"Right now we still have to buy raw materials from other places, mostly from Lam Dong Province, and that contributes to high production costs," Kha said.

The new village should create even more jobs, for both men and women, she said.

"We’ll set up a workshop where the most experienced weavers will make high quality products for orders, particularly exports. Production will be standardised to create high quality," Kha said, adding that many items are now exported to Cambodia, Germany, Australia and the US.

Over the last seven years, the co-operative has had a combined yearly turnover of VND1.3 billion (over U$80,000), and of that amount, export value accounted for nearly 40 per cent.

Other objectives of the village project, she said, include promoting a "Khmer Silk" trademark, opening a room to display products, and most importantly, training young weavers so the tradition will continue for many more generations.

Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodia’s Siem Reap province has held a memorial service for 14 Vietnamese volunteers fallen in the locality during the 70s.

The remains of these volunteers had been found recently.

At the ceremony, which took place at the Vot Th’mei pagoda, Siem Reap’s Vice Governor Chan Sophon expressed gratitude to those fallen Vietnamese volunteers, saying they had saved the Cambodian people and country from the genocide.

The 14 sets of remains were later handed over to officers from Tay Ninh province, who have over the past time joined hands with their counterparts from Siem Reap to dig out and repatriate a total of 464 sets of remains of fallen Vietnamese volunteers.

AN GIANG — Cambodia and Viet Nam are expected to achieve bilateral trade worth US$2.3 billion annually by 2010, according to reports released at the border-trade meeting held in An Giang Province last week.

In the first 11 months of 2007, trade turnover between Viet Nam and Cambodia amounted to $1.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30 per cent.

Viet Nam attained export turnover of $896 million with Cambodia while imports from the neighbouring country amounted to $180 million.

A report from the Viet Nam Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Asia-Pacific Department said trade between the two countries rose from $184 million in 2001 to $940 million in 2006.

Cambodia is currently the 16th biggest overseas market for Vietnamese goods while Viet Nam is the third largest buyer for Cambodian exports, behind Thailand and China.

Viet Nam enjoys a trade surplus over Cambodia. Major exports from Viet Nam include textiles and garments, plastics, computers, electronics and components, vegetables and fruits, seafood and electrical home appliances. Imports from Cambodia include tobacco materials, rubber, wood products and cloth.

The report said border-trade between the two countries has risen by 30 per cent annually during the past five years.

Trade between the two countries operates through border gates in ten Vietnamese border provinces. Up to 95 per cent of that trade is conducted in the provinces of An Giang and Tay Ninh. In 2006, trade in the Mekong province of An Giang amounted to $600 million, accounting for 87 per cent of border trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

The 10 Vietnamese provinces bordering Cambodia have eight border economic zones that cover 6,677sq.m, representing 2.7 per cent of the total area of these provinces.

These border economic zones contribute 34 per cent of the total import taxes and 10.2 per cent of total export taxes of the 23 border economic zones across the country.